Election highlights economic zone anger
| By Prachi Pinglay BBC News, Raigad, Maharashtra |
 |   We are not starving, there is no need for us to sell our land at such throwaway prices  Shivaji Patil  |
Shivaji Patil, 69, is firmly against a proposed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in his village about 90km (56 miles) from the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay).
He stands to lose about seven acres of farmland if the scheme goes ahead.
In this election, the issue of land acquisition for SEZs is a priority for the voters of the Raigad and Maval constituencies, where several are planned. However, most political parties have not made it a part of their manifesto and as a result the election atmosphere is low key.
About 22 villages in Raigad stand to lose 5,700 acres of land for an SEZ proposed by Reliance industries.
The villages are part of the MahaMumbai SEZ (Great Mumbai SEZ), which is planned to spread over 45 villages in total and more than 20,000 acres of land.
Increasingly impatient
In a rare public opinion exercise in September 2008, more than 80% of farmers voted against the proposed SEZ.
 The SEZ idea has generated much controversy |
Farmers are increasingly impatient with what they see as the non-committal stand by political parties over the issue.
They almost unanimously oppose the Congress-led government's refusal to accept the public opinion exercise.
But they do not agree on what they want for their land in future.
Mr Patil, who worked as a primary schoolteacher for 40 years while simultaneously running his farm, has opposed the SEZ for more than two years.
"We are not starving, there is no need for us to sell our land at such throwaway prices to the private companies," he says.
However, he does attach an important proviso.
If he gets a "good price", (nearly 10 times what is proposed) and is assured of not being displaced, he is willing to give up his land.
Shunned
Most farmers oppose the SEZs because they say they will lose crops at a time when a soon-to-be-completed dam will ensure high quality irrigation and more produce.
|  If public opinion does not matter, why go through the consultation exercise at all? Farmer Ashirwad Mokal |
They allege that the government is now postponing the irrigation scheme and delaying the supply of water to this land in a bid to hasten their departure.
While political parties have not actively been talking about SEZs, there are signs that could be about to change.
A recent - and somewhat unlikely - tie-up between the right wing Shiv Sena party and the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) is significant, because both say they strongly oppose the zones.
This could spell trouble for the Congress party candidate in Raigad district, AR Antulay, who now faces the prospect of being shunned by the electorate even though he personally has kept quiet over the issue.
Alternative jobs
Janardan Mhatre, 75, who owns about four acres of land, has been active in the anti-SEZ movement.
Not making the result of the opinion poll public is his main complaint against the government.
"The result has not been accepted by the government publicly. If they had, they would have scrapped compulsory land acquisition and instead concentrated on the irrigation project which was promised back in the 80s," he says.
|  It is important to have someone taking a clear stand against them (SEZs) Forum Against Globalisation spokeswoman Ulka Mahajan |
Ashirwad Mokal, owner of about 11 acres of rice-growing land, is also displeased.
"If public opinion does not matter, why go through the consultation exercise at all?" he asks.
"Industrialisation is possible without displacing farmers. I don't think you need over 30,000 acres to make a profitable industry. We would like to speak to the private companies who are proposing the SEZ. Instead the government is doing land acquisition on their behalf."
Dr Mokal also points out that farmers - who in general are not well educated - are not likely to find good alternative jobs.
"Recently when a factory was set up, locals could not get any other jobs except loaders."
Ulka Mahajan, from the Forum Against Globalisation, says that the economic downturn has only temporarily slowed the process of land acquisition for the SEZs.
"Once the corporate groups recover they will want to go ahead with the zones. To keep the movement [against them] going we are fielding our own candidate in the adjoining constituency where more land will be taken up by SEZs.
"It is important to have someone taking a clear stand against them."
In the meantime farmers are at a crossroads.
They face a difficult choice: either accept the zones and give up their ancestral property or carry on farming in the hope their land will not be compulsorily purchased and they will benefit from the new irrigation system.
